I wanted to see if there were bad experiences here on BP.I connected him with my realtor.

I would like to network and learn from those having been in the industry far longer who can share their knowledge and experience.

Which I also have experience doing.  

The FEMA 50% rule does come into play, but we do a lot of ground-up construction, so some investors that do have some new build/heavy rehab experience are tearing down and building back to current codes.

I have read the book on long distance investing and still am not too confident to get started.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Based on how I am reading your summary it sounds like there is solid equity in the 2-family in order for a bank to cross-collaterize assets. 

STR loophole works under different rules, and you can read more about it here:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/1122635-the-s...While REPS is clearly not recognized by CA, their conformity to the STR loophole rules is unclear.

@Srini RajamaniIt's never too late to get started and from your previous experience, you can avoid those same disasters in the future. 

Does anyone have experience borrowing money in the US to build in Belize?